In The Face Of Danger
by dnalalal
Summary: PostShowtime our favourite bleached blonde vamp returns to the fold the SITs react
1. Misconceptions

In The Face Of Danger  
  
"I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away."  
Xander - The Witch (Season 1)  
  
Chapter 1 - Misconceptions  
----  
  
They heard the lock click and the door swing open. It was followed by a strange pattern of solid steps and akward shuffles.  
  
"Buffy?", one of the SITs ventured softly.  
  
"Yeah?" Her voice betrayed her exhaustion.  
  
"Is everything alright?" Their eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness, and while Buffy seemed slightly mishapen they didn't stop to think she could be accompanied.  
  
"It's fine. Go to sleep, we have a lot to do in the morning..Xander?"  
  
"Mmm..Buff?"   
  
"Can you uh..come upstairs with me? I need to talk to you."  
  
"Yeah..one sec.." The reply was slightly muffled by pillow.  
  
Minutes later the SITs burst into excited whispers.  
  
"I need to *talk* to you Xander-muffin.", one of them attempted to impersonate Buffy.  
  
"I so told you they were sleeping together!", another whispered triumphantly over the sound of giggles.  
  
"C'mon, she's the Slayer, I'm sure it's purely professional. He's like..her sounding board..or something." The voice had started out sure, but ended wavering with confusion.  
  
"Don't be stupid. It's so obvious!"  
  
One SIT yawned and it started a snowball effect that quieted them for at least a moment.  
  
"If you say so..but what's obvious to me is that we all need some serious sleep. And I say, with the UberVamp gone, now's the time to get it."  
  
"Amen to that."  
----  
  
"Oh my god Kennedy! You totally should have been downstairs last night. Xander and Buffy were having like, this secret midnight..well..past midnight..whatever, this secret late night rendevouz!"  
  
Kennedy scoffed.  
  
"Whatever. Unless they have some nasty threesome thing going on with Willow, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't swing that way..at least, not towards--"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Xander came to get Willow waayyy late last night. They went rushing off to Buffy's sacred bedroom. Besides, I peaked in there this morning and there is totally some other guy in her bed."  
  
"What?!?"  
  
"You heard me." Kennedy grinned mischieviously, loving being in the know.  
  
"What'd he look like? Was Buffy in bed with him?"  
  
"I couldn't really see. He had major bleached hair though. Buffy was sitting on the side of the bed, just kinda, watching. I skidaddered quick though..girl's got eyes in the back of her head!"  
  
"Woah..I have to tell the others!"  
----  
  
"Girls." Xander called, trying to gather up the more excited than normal teenagers. They didn't give him the time of day.  
  
"Ah..time to rely on one of the classics.." He reached over and flickered the lights like his grade 3 teacher used to do.  
  
The girls shut up in record time, fear of the unknown evident on their faces.  
  
"Well, hello then. Breakfast is almost ready and then it's time for another round of--"  
  
"Where's Buffy."  
  
The forced cheerfulness quickly fell away and was replaced by the real tired out and true Xander.  
  
"Upstairs."  
  
"With a guy!" One of the SITs whispered.  
  
"What?" Xander hoped he didn't hear what he thought he just heard.  
  
"Well uh..some of us have uh..noticed that last night there were some strange occurences and uh..as a group we've come to the conclusion that we are in a very bad time right now and we have the right to know what's going on." Kennedy began to warm to her topic, "We have a right to know just what measures are being taken to protect us..to protect the world. And while we understand there is a..ah..certain comfort in a..in intimate relations..we uh.." She ran out of steam and looked to the others for help.  
  
"Who is it? Who's she boning?"  
  
"What?!?"  
  
"Look, its just, late night rendevouz..a guy in her bed.."  
  
"A guy in- ohhhhhhh. No."  
  
"No what?"  
  
"No, it's not what you think."  
  
"There's no guy?"  
  
"Well.."  
  
"There's a guy. But not in her bed? But Kennedy-"  
  
"Ok, can I say..no comment."  
  
A loud chorus of 'No's and 'Not fair's resounded.  
  
Xander smiled cheerily, "I'll be right back."  
  
Minutes later he was replaced by a frazzled looking Willow.  
  
"Willow! Will you tell us--"  
  
"Look, no questions, just let me talk. Last night, after the fight, Buffy went to where the First has been hiding out and got Spike."  
  
The room errupted in excited chatter.  
  
"Shh! Now listen, he's been beaten pretty bad and Buffy is letting him stay in her room. He needs comfort. Nothing more. There has not been and will not be any 'boning'."  
  
"But she's completely in love with him."  
  
Willow was at a loss, she knew Buffy would want her to deny it, but at the same time she thought she owed these frightened few the truth.  
  
"She was so obsessed with saving him."  
  
"There's a history, I can smell it."  
  
"Isn't Spike a vampire?"  
  
"Look, I know this is all very confusing and overwhelming..and yeah, he's a vampire but he's different and he's important to us. All of us. He's been around a long time and he's experienced. He also has been closer to the First than any of us and when he's rested I'm sure he'll have lots to tell us. For now, I want you girls in the basement for a few hours to do some training. I'm going to take you through some meditation techniques."  
----  
  
Days later the questions had subsided, the SITs knew they would only be given information when the Slayer so decided. However, that didn't stop frequent Spike spottings from being all the rage.  
  
Everything from what kind of blood he liked, to what colour his skin was, to how many times Dawn went to see him was discussed. Most importantly, all Spike and Buffy interaction was logged and analyzed.  
----  
  
"Buff, I know you want to give him more time. But I can't shake this feeling that we're running out of time. Besides, the longer we leave the baby slayers to their own devices, the more they jump to their own conclusions."  
  
Buffy sighed. Still not caught up on her sleep due to constant Spike surviellance, she was really feeling the weight of every decision she had to make.  
  
"Fine. We'll have a little meeting. You get them round up, I'll bring him down."  
---- 


	2. Girltalk

In The Face Of Danger  
  
"I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away."  
Xander - The Witch (Season 1)  
  
Chapter 2 - Girltalk  
----  
  
The SITs waited anxiously, trying desperately not to fidget in their seats. For once they were quiet and paying attention. They were about to meet Him. He'd been hiden from them for almost a week now and quick glimpses of a battered face hadn't been enough to even begin to statisfy their curiousity.  
  
They heard murmurs at the head of the stairs.  
  
"Are you sure?" Buffy's voice was gentler than they'd ever heard it.  
  
"Yes luv, time to get it over with."  
  
"You don't have to." The voices had gotten louder, they were almost there.  
  
"I do." There was a slight pause, "You know I do, anything to help you."  
  
One of the SITs coughed loudly, garnering glares from the others. She looked down at her chipped figernails.  
  
"Girls." Buffy rounded the corner on her own, "I know you've been really anxious to meet your first vampire, well, besides UberUgly. You've done well over the past week, many of your skills have improved. Guess the threat of death is good motivation." No laughs, dead silence, "Mm, tough crowd. Oh well, uh, this is Spike."  
----  
  
He limped slowly into the room and gazed at the girls before him, quickly taking it all in. His limp was the only thing that gave evidence of his earlier beatings.  
  
"Hullo."  
  
The SITs sat in silence, staring in awe.  
  
"Uh, so yeah, Spike's your joe average vampire. Mostly they look human and--"  
  
"Can we see your fangs?"  
  
Spike looked to Buffy who shrugged. When he turned back to the SITs his face had transformed, his now golden eyes flashed.  
  
There was a collective gasp and even one shriek.  
  
"Holy shit." Kennedy's mouth hung open, even she, the most together of them all, was shocked.  
  
Spike quickly morphed back and seemed almost embarrassed.  
  
"Look, he's not here for you guys to experiment on or anything ok? He's tired and--"  
  
"It's alright luv. I can take it from here." He turned back to the SITs. "The story is, most vamps aren't tame like me. They're wild and they're beasts and they're mean and nasty. In fact, demons don't come much nastier. We look like humans but we'll tear out your throat without the blink of an eye. You can't let it trick you. You need to start by honing your senses so that--"  
  
"So it's true then?" One of the SITs interrupted.  
  
"What?"   
  
"Vampires, y'know..forever young..forever..beautiful." She blushed, but her statement was backed up by a series of giggles.  
  
Buffy snorted, trying to hold back her laughter at the look on Spike's face. Here he was trying to teach them skills that could be the difference between their life and death and they were still hung up on his appearence. Maybe she shouldn't have dressed him up in that hot blue shirt..  
  
"It's true that we stay the same as the day we died. Course we can always change our style. In point of fact, I used to be quite the--"  
  
"Buffy, what's your history. I mean, I heard you and Spike were like mortal enemies..till the death."  
  
"Well..uh, a lot has changed. Well, no, just Spike mostly. He's different."  
  
"Different how?"  
  
"Well, soul having. But also..well, there's the chip, and, uh, the uh.."  
  
"So, basically, we just gotta trust him 'cause you have some bad boy fetish?"  
  
Buffy stared blankly, fishmouthing.  
  
"Hey!" Xander interjected from the doorway. "Buffy is trying to save your lives, she's doing what's best for you. Spike's not my favourite person but I'll vouch for his trustworthiness. I mean, as long as the First isn't messing with him. And he's got a lot to teach, if you'll just pay attention. This isn't high school girls, forget the gossip."  
  
The SITs quieted.  
  
"Sorry." Someone mumbled.  
  
Buffy had tensed and wanted out. Things with Spike never went as planned.   
  
He reached out and discreetly ran his finger tips across the back of her neck and then down her spine, magically easing the stiffness. Her mind managed to ignore the fact he was touching her and just take the comfort.  
  
"We start the real training tomorrow. No more fun and games."  
  
"Real training?"  
  
"You need to be able to fight, you need to be able to sense a vamp. Theory will get you nowhere. We need to work on a plan, we need to start preparing. The First is coming back and stronger than before, I can feel it in my bones. We need to be prepared. In fact, we need to be better than prepared. We need to win this." With that Buffy turned and left the room, Spike in tow.  
  
"As I said girls, leave the gossip for the locker room. We have more important things to worry about." Xander hoped he'd passed on his parting words with the proper amount of somberness, but not so much that he'd frightened them.   
----  
  
For a time no one said anything. They all just let what had been said sink in. This was a serious time with serious consequences. They could meet death head on at any time. They were unsure and terrified and-  
  
"Holy crap, he was flippin' hot! Like..DAMN."  
  
"I know! Did you see his eyes??!"  
  
"Did you notice how when he touched her..she like, melted?"  
  
"It's soooo romantic!"  
----  
  
From just inside the other room Xander grimaced.  
  
"What are you grinning at Willow?"  
  
She shrugged.  
  
"Some things never change."  
----  
  
A/N: Th-th-th-that's all folks! Sorry I didn't clarify it earlier. I love Spuffy much, but this story wasn't written with super Spuffy intentions. I don't think I got Spike quite right. I have issues with writing post Crazy!Spike without traces of SmartAss!Spike which don't really mesh. Anyhow, no continuation. Sorry. 


End file.
